Computing systems and data are important resources that are often crucial to the operations of various types of organizations, such as business enterprises and governmental entities. Failures that affect the computing systems and data used by organizations may cause periods of unplanned downtime and data loss that could threaten an organization's productivity, reputation, and bottom line. Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of these risks and are taking measures to plan for and recover from such failures.
As modern computing environments become increasingly complex, adequately protecting these important resources can also become increasingly difficult. Consider, as an example, a data center that implements virtualization technology, various shared storage configurations, and multiple types of network access. In the event of some unplanned occurrence, such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other catastrophic failure, protecting the computing systems and data in such an environment from unexpected unavailability often requires the knowledge and involvement of several different administrators or experts. Such coordination between several administrators can be time consuming, as well as prone to errors.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments of the disclosure are provided as examples in the drawings and detailed description. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed. Instead, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.